Cushion



Aug. 23,- 1932.

B. osTR'oFF cusxnou Filed Oct. 22, 1931 Patented Aug. 23, 1932 BENJAMIN OSTROFF, F GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS CUSHION Application filed October 22, 1931. Serial No. 570,302.

This invention relates to cushions, being intended more particularly, though not exclusively, to provide an improved form of pillow cushion of the type commonly employed in connection with upholstered chairs, sofas, davenports and other structures intended to support the occupant in a sitting or reclining posture, the term pillow cushion being intended generically to include such various applications thereof.

Such cushions are commonly made up in the form of padded, resilient units and more or less flexible, but having a characteristic shape designed to be preserved, and suitably shaped for application to the seat of a chair or sofa which is itself frequently provided with a built-in under-spring construction, the cushion being designed to provide an added softened cushioning effect for the chair or sofa as well as to produce a finished and heavilyupholstered appearance. To fulfil these conditions, it is desirable that the cushion unit should be detachable, capable of preserving its intended shape and being restored to its full expanded form when relieved of pres sure, and also capable of being reversed so as to provide its resilient cushioning eflect in either of its reversed positions.

Pillow cushions of this type have hereto fore proven most comfortable when stuffed with down, but a down filling tends to pack more or less through continued usage, causing the unit as a whole to lose its plump, expanded form and the outer covering to become creased and marred. Pillow cushions provided with resilient springs alone to give the cushioning ffect tend to give either a harsher cushioning effect than is desired on the one hand or an entirely too yielding response on the other hand.

One object of the present invention is to provide a resilient pillow cushioning unit in which the cushioning effect of springs is utilized but supplemented by the effect of a yielding air cushion, the unit being detachable and reversible and presenting a cushioning seat in either reversed position, the unit beinq so constructed that the air cushion will function equally well in either position and 0 a cushioning effect produced approximating closely that of a down-stuffed cushion, while the cushion, even under long continued usage, continues to retain its plump, expanded and originally designed shape and form.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the following description when taken in connection With the accompanying illustration of one specific embodiment, while its scope will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective showing a pillow cushion embodying one form of the invention, the outer elements of the cushion being partly detached and turned back to show the interior construction;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section, in elevation, taken through the cushion and showing the internal resilient unit with its flexible air-tight covera;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail in section showing the flexible air pipe connecting the air space of the internal resilient unit with the outer casing; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the valve employed for regulating the admission and the escape of air.

Referring to the drawing and to the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown, the cushion as disclosed in Fi s. 1 and 2 is provided with an internal resillent unit having a series of helical springs 11 arranged side by side in rows and held separated in place by any desired means. Th1s internal resilient unit, which is of generally rectangular shape in plan, thus has, as a whole, a definite and characteristic but yieldable and more or less flexible form throughout. It is covered on the top, bottom and sides by a flexible but air-tight covering 13 of any suitable material, such as'rubberized cloth, the same forming, except for the vent opening hereinafter referred to, a substantially airtight chamber in which the springs are contained.

The springs 11 may be fastened together either directly to the covering 13 or by any other desired means, but herein they are secured to upper and lower sheets of coarsely meshed fabric, such as burlap, which to gether with longitudinal and transverse strips 17 of the same material are formed into a kind of a cellular casing in which the springs are secured and WlllCh holds the springs separated in their required relation, preserving the desired and established form of the resilient unit, while permitting it to function as a cushion in either reverse position. The air-tight covering of rubberized cloth also assists in preserving the established form of the resilient unit and also ermits it to function in either reversed position, while at the same time providing an inner air chamber, the effect of which is utilized in preservin the desired cushioning eflect.

he resilient unit constructed as described is entirely covered on the top, bottom and each of the four sides with a thick layer or layers of padding 19, which may be of cotton or other suitable material, and is built up into the required shape, such as that shown in the drawing, and then provided with an outer covering or casing 21 of any desired material such as a suitable upholstery fabric.

To utilize the air cushion, the rubberized cloth covering is provided with a vent opening 23 of such a size as to permit the slow escape of air from the resilient unit when pressure is applied thereto. To better facilitate the functioning of the air cushion, such vent opening is connected to a flexible pipe or conduit, such as the short rubber tube 25, which extends through the intermediate wall or padding to a vent opening 27 in the outer covering 21, the tube being joined to the fabric covering of the resilient unit and to the outer fabric b any suitable means, such as the flanged rubber union plates 29 and 31. This connecting tube, which is adapted to 'eld under various movements of the cush- 1on, provides for a more or less restricted admission of air to and escape from the inner.

air chamber of the cushion.

To control the escape and admission of air,

the vent opening 27 may be covered by a plate 33 having a vent opening 35 which may be opened to" varying degrees by the pivoted valve plate 37 If the padding 19 is sufiiciently porous, a suflicient amount of air may be circulated directly from the padded portion of the cushion into and out of the inner air chamber, and to permit such circulation and minimize the amount expelled through the outer vent opening and check any unnecessary noise which might accompany its expulsion or admission therethrough, one or.

more vent openings 39 may be formed in the walls of the vent tube.

Or, if desired, in place of employing the flexible pipe, the necessary expulsion of air from the inner chamber and admission of air" thereto may be provided for, or in conjunction withthe use of the pipe may be assisted, by providing one or more ventilating openings in the walls of the air chamber covering 13 and similar openings in the outer covering 21 of the cushion. In Fig. 1 of the drawings I have provided one such ventilating opening in each side wall of the chamber covering 13.and in each side of the cushion covering 21 through the use in each case of a gauzecovered eyelet 41 fixedly held in a perforation of such side wall and of a size sufiicient to give the required circulation of air. Such ventilating devices in no wise impair the flexibility or the appearanceof the cushion.

The finished cushion has the conventional appearance of a down stuffed cushion, being plump, resilient and flexible through both its top and bottom. When pressure is applied to the cushion, as through the weight of a person seating himself upon it, the air is slowly expelled from the vent opening 23, escaping through the valve opening in the external covering 21 and in part into the padding through the opening in the wall of the flexible tube, the inner resilient unit of the cushion yielding gradually until the compression of the springs brings about a condition of equilibrium. As soon as the weight is relieved, the springs expand, drawing air again into the air chamber of the resilient unit, again expanding the latter and expanding the entire cushion to its full, plump, original form and shape.

The cushion is equally resilient on top and bottom, the internal resilient unit being elastic and compressible under pressure exerted from either top or bottom, and being covered by padding on both top and bottom the resilie'nt unit cushions and functions equally well and is equally well restored to its normal shape when relieved of pressure, whether the cushion is applied to a chair or sofa in the position shown in the drawing, or in a reversed or up side down position.

While I have herein shown the principles of the invention as applied to a seat cushion for a chair or sofa, it may also be usefully employed in other analogous cushion devices, such as mattresses, pillows or the like.

While I have herein shown and described for the purposes of illustration one particular stantially air-tight, flexible covering enclosing said unit and providing an air chamber within the same, said chamber having a vent opening, an outer covering and padding surrounding said unit and providing a cush- END ioning resiliency at both the top and bottom Y of said resilient unit, a vent opening provided in the outer covering, and a flexlble air pipe extending from said vent opening in the covering for said resilient unit to the vent 7 ing a vent opening, an outer covering and 7 padding surrounding said unit and providing a cushioning resiliency at both the top and bottom of said resilient unit, said vented air chamber providing fluid pressure means to resist the sudden collapse of the unit by the seating of a person on the cushion and gradually diminish in resistance to relatively slowly transfer the collapsing pressure to the springs of said unit, whereby the characteristics of a down filled cushion are approximated while avoiding sudden complete collapse of said readily yieldable' springs under such sudden application of pressure and providin for reshaping of the cushion when releases 3. A self-reshaping pillow cushion according to claim 2 including a restricted flexible air pipe extending from said vent opening and through the padding to the outer covering to establish direct but restricted communication between the interior of said unit and the atmosphere.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

BENJAMIN USTROFF. 

